Table of Contents
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
- The Pakistan government approved a proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from India to visit Sharda Peeth, an ancient Hindu temple and cultural site in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
- The Sharda Peeth corridor, when opened, will be the second religious tract after Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan-controlled territory that will connect the two neighboring nations.
KARTARPUR CORRIDOR
- A proposed border corridor between the neighboring nations of India and Pakistan, connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (located in Punjab, India) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur (in Punjab, Pakistan).
NOTES
- The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, respectively, as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.
SHARDA PEETH CORRIDOR
- Sharada Peeth, a shrine for the Kashmiri Pandits in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Sharada Peeth, an abandoned temple close to the Line of control (LoC), sits in PoK’s Sharda village in the Neelum Valley (at a distance of around 140 km from Muzaffarabad and 30 km from Kupwara) and has been out of bounds for Indian pilgrims since Partition.
- Sharada Peeth (also spelled as Sharda and translates to the seat of Hindu Goddess Saraswati’) was once regarded as a major center of higher learning of Vedic works, scriptures, and commentaries. Sharada Peeth, one of the 18 highly revered temples across South Asia, was once at par with the ancient seats of learning at Nalanda and Takshila.
- one of the legends associated with the shrine is that once, during the fight between good and evil, Goddess Sharada saved the container of knowledge and hid it in a hole in the ground.
- She then turned herself into a structure to cover the pot. The structure now stands as Sharada Peeth.
TIME
- Established in 237 BC during the reign of Ashoka, the 5,000-year-old Sharada Peeth is an abandoned temple and ancient center of learning dedicated to the Hindu goddess of learning.
- Between the 6th and 12th centuries CE, Sharada Peeth was one of the foremost temple universities of the Indian subcontinent.
THE TIMING OF ANNOUNCEMENT
- At a time when the Imran Khan government has come under fire over the purported persecution of Hindus and other minorities, Pakistan gave its nod for the opening of Sharda Peeth Corridor which will pave way for Hindus to offer prayers at a temple located in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
PAKISTAN EYES TOURISM
- Pakistan’s tourism industry, currently estimated at $22 billion n sharp contrast, India’s tourism industry is worth $234 billion
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